Monday, February 3, 2014

[Note: This is reprinted without permission. I found this on the AbsoluteWrite forum, written by scriptwriter74. Unfortunately, there is no way for me to give proper credit to the author; contacting members though the forum isn't allowed. But I think this is so important, I'm willing to reprint it anyway.]

I want to share with all of you the secret to getting your script optioned. This is fairly simple and
amazingly almost no one out there is doing this. I have had specific conversations with actors
who were amazed that they have had little to no one approach them in this format. I didn't want
to share this info until my first script was optioned and I assume that IMDB will want to hunt me
down, but here it goes.

First let start off by saying I'm going to assume you have a script that is ready to go. Please don't
use this avenue for a treatment or a partially finished script. Make sure it is polished and is ready
to be ripped apart.
Okay here we go:

The biggest problem for most is not having the connections or network to put their script into the
hands of people who can make a difference. The usual routes like inktip are too passive and
using the HCD or IMDB to blindly equery or snail mail query major productions companies or
major producers who have no idea who you are is rediculous.

What you want to do is to establish relationships with people already in the business, kind of
along the lines of the 7 degrees of kevin bacon line. I found that the best way to accomplish this
was to use IMDBpro.com and scan their list of individual actors who are also listed as producers.
Ideally you want an actor who has his/her own production company. This is going to usually be
an actor in the 7,000-60,000 imdb list of actor or producer rankings. Then you want to approach
one by equery with an email in 2-3 sentences giving your logline and quick pitch and state that
you think they would be great for X role. If they end up liking it, maybe they bring it on to their
slate. At the very least if they like but don't have the $ to produce at this time, let them know you
appreciate the feedback and if there is someone they think would be in a position to produce that
you would be willing to attach them to the project if their introduction leads to an option. It's
amazing how friendly people become when there is a financial gain for them. Ideally you want to
approach the actor/producer with a good supporting role but not the lead because unless that
individual actor/producer is going to produce, no larger production company will want to have
one of the leads alread promised to a "b" or "c" level actor. I have established relationships with
close to 20 actors and 5 producers this way and now I have connections in place for future
scripts.